Technology is enabling a leapfrogging phenomenon where nations are driving their economies towards the future by skipping the earlier technology iterations, says Nicole Valentine, the FinTech director at Milken Institute Finance. She tells TRENDS that the GCC is now writing a new chapter in the global shift toward knowledge-based growth.
You’ve been at the forefront of conversations around fintech, digital assets, and innovation. How do you see these technologies reshaping the financial ecosystem in the GCC?
We are witnessing the rise of a maturing Web3 world.
In three decades, the global digital economy has become more connected, embedded, and intelligent. In the past, industrial revolutions were experienced by a handful of nations that had a headstart on the race to technological advancement.
Whether it was space exploration, manufacturing, robotics in healthcare, or financial services powered by machine learning, some nations enjoyed the benefits of innovation while others sought to catch up and find their place in the future.
In this period, knowledge became a commodity that could be transferred, shared, monetized, and most importantly, digitized. While knowledge and tech converged, the world came online with increased mobile phone ownership. The 2025 global mobile phone ownership is 91percent as compared to 2005 when ownership was 30 percent.
Today, innovations in fintech, digital assets, and artificial intelligence set a different stage – a stage where all nations have an opportunity to build digital rails, bridges, networks, protocols, and ecosystems using a toolkit of the most advanced technology anyone has seen.
What’s important about this moment is the transition we are all in – no matter our starting point. This technology is enabling a leapfrogging phenomenon where nations are driving their economies towards the future by skipping the earlier technology iterations that are being retired by more advanced nations.
The GCC has a story to tell about its transition to building knowledge-based economies. The world has known the Middle East for its oil and natural gas. But there is a new fuel that is taking the main stage – knowledge, artificial intelligence, and the digital assets that enable capital investment, deployment, and generation.
What approaches do you believe work best to encourage responsible innovation while still protecting consumers and maintaining financial stability?
A policymaking approach I value in developing responsible innovation is one that brings a representative group of stakeholders to the agenda-setting table.
When industry innovators, end-user and consumer advocates, technology experts, economists, and policymakers come together, it’s an opportunity for a 360-degree view and analysis of how innovation will generate benefits and where that innovation creates risks.
It’s optimal to hammer out the issues in the early stages because there are risks and costs associated with trying to undo something that is already done.
Year-round, we at the Milken Institute convene stakeholders on matters of responsible innovation and the development of the digital assets industry.
Curating a balanced conversation with experts who share case studies of impact has been a valuable approach in influencing the direction of innovation and its regulation.
What’s the key to aligning government policy, business strategy, and technological development so that innovation drives sustainable and inclusive economic growth?
The key to alignment always starts with the numbers. Data has the power to tell a story that resonates with policy, business, and tech.
Let’s take stablecoins as an example. Just a few years ago, crypto was viewed as a technology looking for a widely adopted use case. Before stablecoins, crypto was viewed mostly for its speculative value.
With a total market cap of over $300 billion, stablecoins have introduced an opportunity for global payment efficiencies in remittances and cross-border transactions, access to the US dollar, and a bridge from TradFi to the digital economy.
Today’s entrepreneur has a blockchain superhighway, they can access round the clock to conduct, transact, and build their businesses.
How can emerging technologies help expand access to financial services and empower communities that have traditionally been excluded from the system?
I mentioned the mobile phone penetration rate above, but that is just one of the mechanisms necessary to fully expand access to financial services.
The mobile phone is the tool. The applications that unlock lending products, investment platforms, and payment wallets are the heart of the experience.
If you take the entire user journey of a financial services experience and map out what’s necessary to achieve inclusion, it starts with digital identity and continues with alternative data, transparency, and ownership.
Artificial intelligence has the power to expand the quality of the financial services experience by personalizing the information you receive based on your unique behaviors and goals.
When I think about the statistics regarding financial literacy, financial inclusion, and financial fluency, I envision artificial intelligence as a conduit for more personalized financial engagement.
As the world continues to live in the era of digital economies, what innovations or shifts do you see defining the next wave of financial transformation? And how should leaders, investors, and policymakers prepare to harness these changes effectively?
We are in the heart of the next wave of financial transformation, where tokenization of assets, funds, and currencies is introducing this “smaller unit, more participation” phenomenon.
Can more have a piece of the pie? The answer is, if you cut up the pie into smaller pieces.
This era of digital economic growth will be defined not just by how efficient and transparent these systems are, but by how many more can be included and served by the systems that are built.
The power of ownership and the benefits that come with ownership should also remain a priority for leaders and policymakers.
